David Frank named first dean of UO Clark Honors College

EUGENE, Ore. -- (June 18, 2008) -- David Frank, professor of rhetoric and former associate director of the University of Oregon’s Robert D. Clark Honors College (CHC), became the college’s first dean this week.

The university announced its intent to restructure the top administrative post at the honors college from director to dean in May. The decision was made to address the need to enhance the visibility of the honors college within the overall university. It also more clearly aligns the duties and responsibilities of the leader of the honors college with the leaders of other academic colleges and schools at UO.

As the dean of the CHC, Frank will oversee the nation’s oldest four-year, public honors college, which includes 12 faculty members, join the Deans' Working Group, and serve on President Frohnmayer’s Leadership Council.

"With my appointment as dean of the honors college, I have the opportunity to advance the university's agenda to attract a blue chip faculty and student body by contributing a rigorous, four-year curriculum designed to inspire creative and critical thinking and to engage in informed advocacy," said Frank. "In looking to this bright future, I plan to build on the work of my predecessor, Richard Kraus, who, for five years, has led the college with great intelligence and dignity."

Frank, who has been the CHC’s associate director for the past five years and served as the college’s director from 2000 to 2003, is also the director of the UO forensics department, professor of rhetoric, and author of numerous publications. His recent publications include Frames of Evil: The Holocaust in American Film (Southern Illinois Press, 2006) and Shared Land/Conflicting Identity: Trajectories of Israeli and Palestinian Symbol Use (Michigan State University Press, 2002).

Established in 1960, the Robert D. Clark Honors College is the oldest four-year, public honors colleges in the nation. The college offers a small liberal arts education within a larger research institution. Curriculum includes specialized courses, capped at 25 students and taught by faculty renowned in their fields and in the scholarship of teaching, a thesis in the student’s field of study, and access to faculty and fellow students in an intimate, enriched learning community.

About the University of Oregon
The University of Oregon is a world-class teaching and research institution and Oregon's flagship public university. The UO is a member of the Association of American Universities (AAU), an organization made up of 62 of the leading public and private research institutions in the United States and Canada. Membership in the AAU is by invitation only. The University of Oregon is one of only two AAU members in the Pacific Northwest.

Media contact: Therese Picado, communications coordinator, Robert D. Clark Honors College, 541-346-2442, picado@uoregon.edu

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